Mobile radio device communication is typically effectuated on an open and shared channel and, accordingly, all transmissions to and from the device have the possibility of being monitored and modified. A principal difficulty with such radio channels is how to establish a secure communication environment between two devices. Two main processes are commonly involved: authentication and key exchange. Authentication establishes the identities of the communicating parties to permit trust that the data received is from the intended device (usually via a common shared secret). Key exchange involves the transmission of data between the communicating parties in order to establish secret keys for encryption. Given the open nature of broadcast radio transmissions, it should be appreciated that the transmission of secret keys on an open network is susceptible to eavesdropping and man-in-the-middle attacks.